They said it!

NC State's thrashing of UNC on Saturday had the media, players and coaches talking. We at TSW, thought we would highlight a few quotes in this edition of "They said it".

Pack tight end Sean Berton

"We came in at halftime and regrouped and told ourselves that if we kept pounding and pounding them, good things were going to happen."

"We like to think of ourselves as blue collar. We pack our lunch, go to work on the defense and let Josh and T.A. go to work. If our offensive line plays well, we win."

NC State Coach Chuck Amato

"The whole day started off bad, Joe the driver said, `we've got a flat tire coach.' We left there and went on the bus. I had my sidekick--coach Guzzo--with me because he knows how to beat North Carolina over here. I got on the bus and said this is the only loss we're going to have today."

"It was a beauty to see. We have a Heisman Trophy candidate in Philip Rivers and he's handing the ball off."

"They (NC State OL) stood up today. They knocked people off the football, and that's a sick and terrible feeling. I've been through it. You can't stop a team from running. They're gaining 5 and then 6 and then 4, they're getting 8. And there's nothing you can do about it except throw more people up there and hope they don't throw it. And we weren't. I told (the coaches) you throw that daggone football, and I'm coming up to the press box after you."

"T.A. ran for 164 yards with one arm. Imagine what he's going to do with two."

"I wasn't uptight Monday. I wasn't uptight today. I won't be uptight tomorrow. I might be a little uptight tonight but that's only because I might have my hands around a little grape juice."

"You want a pair (cool shades) and they're all sold out."

NC State guard Sean Locklear

"That's what we did. We went out there and dominated."

N&O's Calton Tudor

"The Tar Heels were bullied into submission by a Stone Age blocking mentality in what turned out to be as much of a statement performance as a win over an archrival."

Carolina receiver Chesley Borders

"He (Durant) was basically running for his life."

Carolina linebacker Doug Justice

"It is a long run. I had a little burst of energy, but he (Big OL Sean Locklear) had an angle on me."

"We heard the crowd when they came out. You noticed the red with all the blue. They had a good amount of people here."

UNC DE Will Chapman

"You could tell he (TA McLendon) was injured. But for him to come through like that, running like that when he was injured shows his character."

State linebacker Dantonio Burnette

"It's real good to beat these guys because they were saying this isn't a rival game for them. It upset us. It upset us a lot that a couple of their offensive linemen said it. That really ignited the fire for us."

"They were also saying things about our schedule. They said we play a soft schedule. We wanted to go out and add them to our 'soft' schedule."

Carolina QB Darian Durant

"It slipped out of my hand. I don't know what happened. The ball was wet out there all day because of the perspiration."

News & Record's Ed Hardin

"This isn't Mike O'Cain's Wolfpack. This is a potential giant being coached by a certifiable football maniac. N.C. State is 7-0 with Duke coming up next."

NC State's TA McLendon

"I said, Give it (the ball) to me."

"It's (Tarheel Turf) all right. I'd rather be at Carter-Finley Stadium, though."

NC State's Josh Brown

"We planned the whole time to run it down their throat. Watching T.A. got me motivated. I knew I had to step it up to fill his shoes."

Pack QB Philip Rivers

"I'll hand the ball off every play, if we're moving the ball down the field. If that's what's working, let's do it."

"We could have won this game without throwing a single pass."

"We've got the total package now"

"Now that we have got this running game going, people can't spend the whole practice worrying about us throwing the ball and how to cover this and that and us shifting all over the place. They better just worry about us just lining up and running right at 'em."

"They aren't worried about the game; they're worried about their emblem."

Charlotte Observer's Gregg Doyel

"Rivers had no such problem. He was sacked just once, and rarely hit. After his surprisingly easy day's work was done, Rivers slammed the red flag into the Kenan turf, claiming it as N.C. State's own."

NC State guard Shane Riggs

"He (McLendon) just wouldn't go down. There's always a question going from high school to college, how good you're going to be. But he's the real thing."

UNC Coach John Bunting

"The entire team is disappointed because they realize the opportunity they had to beat a team that was undefeated and shock the world. We didn't do it."

Freedom News' Bob Sutton

"Tar Heels offensive lineman Jeb Terry, who in July promised a triumph against N.C. State, didn't show for postgame interviews."

Gaston Gazette's Richard Walker

"UNC coach John Bunting will be challenged on the recruiting trail to show why his Tar Heels — and not Amato's Wolfpack — are the state's most prominent major college football program."